Poly Network Hacker Finally Returns All $610 Million In Cryptos Stolen In Largest Crypto Heist
Poly Network hacker finally returns all $610 million in cryptos stolen in largest crypto heist
The Decentralised Finance (DeFi) platform, Poly Network, has confirmed that the hacker has returned all $610 million in crypto assets stolen in what has been dubbed one of the largest crypto heists in history.
Keep in mind that the news that a hacker, Mr White Hat, had made off with such a large digital bounty shocked the entire world last month. After launching an attack on the Polygon Network, Mr Hat was able to escape with $273 million worth of Ethereum tokens, $253 million worth of Binance Smart Chain tokens, and $85 million worth of USDC.
Once the hack and heist were made public, the hacker, who had made it clear from the beginning that he was not interested in money, began returning the assets one by one, beginning with an initial $260 million donation to the charity. The assets have been returned to Mr Hat by more than half as of August 12.
Poly Network has now confirmed in a Medium post that the remaining stolen assets, which were valued at approximately $141 million, have been recovered.
After a lengthy search, Poly Network was able to recover the remaining 28,953 ETH and 1,032 WBTC (approximately $141 million). It is currently believed that all of the user assets that were transferred out as a result of the incident have been fully recovered.
The cryptocurrency exchange also stated that it has progressed to the next stage of its asset recovery roadmap and is in the process of restoring full asset control to users as soon as possible, according to the announcement.
A good thief?
Mr White Hat, a hacker on the Poly Network, has stated that he is not motivated by financial gain. He also stated that he spent the entire night looking for flaws in the network. He made the decision to take millions of dollars in crypto tokens to make a point because he was concerned that the company would quietly fix the security flaw without informing the public.
“My actions, which may be regarded as bizarre, are part of my efforts to contribute to the security of the Poly project in my own unique way. A painful and obscure process was used to reach agreement, but it was successful,” he explained.
The network was also reassured by him that its assets were safe because the attack was simply an attempt to contribute to the overall security of its platform.
However, Tom Robinson, the CEO and Co-founder of Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company based in London, does not necessarily believe that the hack was carried out with good intentions.
The Poly Network hacker may have buckled under the pressure of the media attention their heist received, Mr Robinson speculated during an explanation of how blockchain technology makes it difficult for cybercriminals to profit from the theft of digital currencies.
According to Mr Robinson, who spoke to BCC, "I wonder if the hacker who stole the funds became aware of the amount of publicity and attention they were receiving, realized that wherever they moved the funds they would be watched, and then decided to give it back."
Poly Network, a platform that allows people to swap tokens across multiple blockchains, including popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, announced that its security had been breached as a result of a code vulnerability on its website. The only thing one can hope is that the company has learned from this experience for the sake of its reputation and the trust of its customers.
